The Saplings Times

“Each time one prematurely teaches a child something he could have discovered himself, that child is kept from inventing it and consequently from understanding it completely.”
―Jean Piaget

The Saplings were presented the lesson The Long Black Strip this week. This lesson acts as both a visual representation of geologic time and is a precursor to the 3rd Great Lesson, The Coming of Humans. As the strip is slowly unrolled, students are read the following story:

This black strip represents the age of Earth, from its very beginning

At first, Earth was a fiery ball.

And this went on for a long, long time.

It rained and rained. And this went on for a long time.

Finally, Earth began to cool. And this went on for a long, long time.

Still, there was no life on Earth. Just rocks and oceans and volcanoes. And this went on for a long, long time.

Just rocks and water and fire. Nothing green or living. And this went on for a long, long time.

Earth is very old. Look how long this strip is!

We are getting near the end of the strip. Finally life begins to develop on Earth. And this went on for a long, long time.

Watch for a change. Something different is about to happen!

Human beings appeared on Earth for the first time. This little strip of red represents the whole time that humans have been on Earth. Compare this to the black strip which shows how old Earth is!

Would you like to hold in your hands the whole time of humans on Earth? From the first humans who lived in Africa, the cave people, Aboriginals, the Egyptians, Native Americans, Mayans, to everyone on Earth today. Here, you can hold all of humanity in your hand.

As you can see in the photos below, the Saplings were eager volunteers to try out holding the Long Black Strip. There were some great responses to the question, "What does it feel like to hold the entire history of Earth in your hands?"

Nature exploration is, of course, a favorite activity of the Saplings. As the year begins, we have a lot of conversations about what it means to explore nature, and we create expectations around the difference between the free play that happens at times like recess and intentional nature exploration. At this point in the year, everyone understands that our nature exploration is a time to interact with and wonder about the environment that we're visiting. We had a great time this week building new forts, creating "fireplaces", and building fairy houses. This is one creative group!

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to Family Friday! The Saplings were so excited to share the experience of a Free Choice Friday with you and were tickled by the plan to let you choose what you'd like to do for Free Choice. We hope you all had a great time! It was a heart-warming experience to observe the sweet engagement that you were all having with your Saplings.

Mammals Who Morph

This is the final book by Jennifer Morgan on Earth's history. This book coincides with the 3rd Great Lesson in Montessori's Cosmic Curriculum, Coming of Humans. Through this lesson, we will study early humans and how the fundamental needs of all humans led to the development of culture around the world.